Published: December 1, 2022 | Source: Gigabyte | Author: Tom Logan

Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master Review

Conclusion

We’ve spent a lot of time with our AM5 motherboards extolling their virtues and how, if you care about performance and nothing else, it almost doesn’t matter whether you choose a B650 or a X670E, and indeed which of those you do end up with.

However, we’re not foolish enough to believe that any of us have a laser focus on performance with no other considerations even entering our minds. We’ve all got brands we like, even if only to keep our software control packages to a minimum, or to leave a single brand shining out throught the RGB lighting. Similarly some of us want systems that are good for the foreseeable future, or we have a ton of peripherals we need USB ports to manage, or enormous digital collections that push storage capacity to the extremes. Or maybe you just like having a model in the upper reaches of a manufacturers range as they tend to be the ones that receive the quickest driver and BIOS updates. Whatever camp you fall into, it’s clear from sales figures alone that we all have wide ranging desires.

The Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master is another in their popular Aorus range, and definitely sits in the upper echelons of the AM5 motherboards we’ve tested so far. What really scores big points is how it does that but at a price point way below that which we might have expected. It’s not much more than a lot of the base models.

Performance is tight amongst all the AM5 motherboards, but if there is ever a gap to be found the Gigabyte Aorus Master usually found itself on the upper echelons of the results rather than on the other side of the midpoint. However, it is the extra elements that allow the Aorus Master to stand apart. As with most of the newest AMD motherboards you have PCI Express 5.0, but the Aorus Master gives you a UD Armor x16 slot for your graphics card and two M.2 PCIe 5.0 x4 slots alongside a pair of the Gen4 ones. Certainly if storage speed and expandability is a concern the Gigabyte has you covered. 12 rear USB ports keep even the most peripheral rich of you with somewhere to connect things, and that’s without taking into account front headers which consist of two USB 2.0, two USB 3.2 Type-A and a USB 3.2 Type-C.

Additionally there is plenty of power to be drawn thanks to a beefy 16+2+2 105A power stage that is built on to the 8 layer, dual copper PCB. Nothing but the best here. With that much power and performance you need plenty of cooling and Gigabyte have gone above and beyond by providing us with 10 PWM/DC fan headers, spready nicely across the board to ensure you aren’t left hunting for somewhere to place your cables. With all headers able to support up to 24W there is a freedom to how you arrange things that can only be useful.

The Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master is a feature rich motherboard with great looks and yet comes at a price that made us look twice, so relatively affordable is it. An easy winner of our OC3D Enthusiast Award.

MSRP : Â£519.98